Tag: Algarve

After the trials of a full-day workshop in Portimão, a brief respite is always on the order of the day, for participants and instructors alike. Beer, some relaxed, non-constrained sketching, new acquaintances, new sketching materials, and beer. Those who prevailed were: Filipe, a talented sketcher leaning on the comics side, turned out to be someone whose work I was admiring for a long time; Javier, all the way from Sevilla, making this an international (at least Iberian) sketch meeting; Inês and António, my travel companions; we all shared stories and drinks in the cold saturday evening.

Sunday didn’t promise any sun nor stillness. By the Naval Club, Some very young sailors were getting their boats ready. We were joined by fewer but brave sketchers. Those that resisted the wind, were rewarded by the customary cozy lunch at Porta Velha, offered by the Portimão municipality.

The first time I came across António Procópio was during his workshop in Casa-Atelier Vieira da Silva, almost three years ago. Back then, he was teaching us how to see from his perspective, and how to divide the canvas of our view into shapes, so that all fit each other to create this immensely complex puzzle that we see everywhere.

Last week, in Portimão, I had the privilege of teaching a sketching workshop with him. It was all about distorted perspectives, where you manage opposing vanishing points in the same sketch. His teaching method didn’t go too technical, but merely focused on what we actually see. António taught everyone how to distort buildings and streets, and I had the easy job of showing how you can do it with people too!

It was a true pleasure to see António – an experienced educator – handling both long time sketchers, and high school neophytes, with the same care, dedication and clear-headedness. His explanations dismiss technical books on perspective, and encourage the practice of careful direct observation and fearless sketching – two of my favorite things!

There’s something about misshapen sketches that attracts and amuses the eye – take gothic gargoyles and modern caricatures, a child’s ginger bread house or the latest Frank Gehry’s design – grotesque portraits and architecture sketches, when done with care, are fun to make and to look at.

Now, it might just be that I’m taller than the average, or that I’m sitting too close to them, but more often than not, I tend to turn people into bobblehead dolls in my sketches. It might also happen in sketches that start out from the most preeminent features of people, with little paper surface to spare for the remainder of their figures.

As usual, at this time of the year, the Municipality of Portimão – with the support of Urban Sketchers Algarve – devotes a weekend to sketching. On saturday, the 24th, António Procópio and I will lead a workshop on distorted perspectives. We’ll show the basics of widening the angle of your sketchbook while portraying architecture and people. The workshop is free so, if you’re around, come by and put some some grotesque into your sketchbook.

At the beaches of Lagos, in southwestern Portugal, the free semi-naked models and sketchable natural landscapes abound. But the scorching sun dries up watercolors and burns backs like a beast, so either take a really fast approach on your sketching and color blending, or take an umbrella.